Dexter Joyner, 84, of Schulenburg passed away in his sleep in Southlake on Sunday, Oct. 15, 2023.
The funeral service was held on Saturday, Oct. 21, 2023 at 11 a.m. at Rader Funeral Home of Henderson with interment in Rusk County Memorial Gardens.
A memorial is scheduled in Schulenburg on Saturday, Nov. 4 from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. at the American Legion McBride Post Home in Wolters Park.
Dexter was born on Aug. 4, 1939, in Wilson, North Carolina. He moved with his family as a child to Henderson, Texas. Dexter graduated from Henderson High School in 1957. From there Dexter attended Stephen F. Austin University, graduating in 1962 with a degree in history. Dexter then taught at Pine Tree High School in Longview from 1964 to 1967, teaching history, sociology and civics. He pursued a law degree from South Texas School of Law in Houston, receiving his Doctor of Jurisprudence in 1970. When he took the State Bar of Texas exam in 1970, he made the second highest score in the state. He completed his law degree while working full-time for Pritchard & Abbot, an ad valorem firm, while attending law school at night. He then practiced law from 1971 to 2022 in Pasadena, supporting numerous school districts in the Houston area including Galena Park ISD, Pasadena ISD, Alief ISD, La Porte ISD and Nederland ISD. Dexter was a founding member of the Galena Park ISD Education Foundation, and supporter of FFA and Santa Gertrudis Youth Foundation. Dexter was also a lifetime member of the Houston Livestock & Rodeo committee.
Dexter was a lifelong lover of animals, raising Santa Gertrudis cattle, Arabian horses and Australian Shepherd dogs. He never met a cat, dog, bull, or horse he didn’t love. He raised Santa Gertrudis cattle and Arabian horses in Schulenburg with his family. During his earlier years, he enjoyed traveling to Germany and England, touring Arabian horse farms and the automotive factories of Mercedes Benz and Porsche. He and his former wife, Jan, imported several Straight Egyptian Arabian horses from Germany to serve as their foundation bloodstock to develop their breeding program. Dexter was a member of the Santa Gertrudis Breeders International board. While being active in the Santa Gertrudis International Breeders (SGBI), he supported the National Santa Gertrudis Youth Foundation by donating heifers to FFA programs to the SGBI juniors to show to earn scholarships. He was an automotive enthusiast with an appreciation of Ford trucks, Ford Mustangs, Mercedes Benz and Harley Davidson motorcycles.
He is survived by his sons, Jeff Joyner (Nyasha) of Farmersville and Derek Joyner (Kim) of League City; his daughter Dana Guggenberger (Chris) of Wylie; his former wife, Jan Hogsed of Schulenburg; his granddaughter, Ashley Thompson (Justin) of Alvin; and three additional granddaughters, two step-grandsons and one great-grandson.
Dexter was preceded in death by his parents, Wesley and Annette Joyner; and his brother Gregg Joyner.
Rader Funeral Home of Henderson was in charge of arrangements.